All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

I think you need to travel the other direction, and go bunny hop some gators for a real thrill.

 

Duthie, Tiger, and Tokul are nice stops but if Stevens Pass or Snoqualmie Summit opens up their bike parks I’d go there on the way up north instead, also Galbraith in Bellingham!

 

I'd love to revisit Tiger Mountain, but it's not really in the cards looking at the schedule. I'm very familiar with that area though, having lived only 20 mins from there in a past life

 

Whole point of making the stop in B-ham! Unemployment Line to Atomic Dog and Radical Dragon are

 

Dang that looks like a sick trip

 

I'm feeling it out. I may have to trim some back because its basically a town a day schedule so there's not a lot of wiggle room if I find a cool place, etc

 

I did ~6 hours/day driving back in July. Providence -> Austin and back. Basically did 70-75 hours behind the wheel, 12 days = about 6. That was pretty cool - everything was shut down though, so going through Indy I didn't have any real incentive to stop and check out the zoo, or whatever, because all that shizz was closed. Ended up spending an extra day in Mountain View - damn cool place.

Anyway. In March I did 12 (13) days out to LA and back. That was closer to 8.5 hours/day behind the wheel each day average. Glad I did it once. On my Texas trip I had a day or two at those hours, but for the most part it was 5-6 hours a day, that's a lot more "do-able".

Now I know - Hammer down trip (IE packed up and moving) I can do the 9-10 hours a day no big deal. Road trip for fun? 6 hours a day.

 

My record is a 14hr day from Manassas, VA to Rockford Illinois in one go. I would highly recommend not doing that, esp in a first gen pulling a u-haul making 9mpg

 

Pensacola to DC was about the same (shade under DC, kipped up outside the city for the night). I had a few 12 hour days on that cannonball run if I remember correctly.

As said - I am happy I did it, but it was a lot for a "fun" trip, if you know what I mean. So now my "fun" trips I have to limit to 6 hours a day, with the exception usually of the first day where i skeedaddle from home and hammer down. I like to get far away fast, sets me into the "I'm not near home, I'm on vacation" mode.

 

I’m sure this has been discussed, but I am not looking through 1549 pages to find the best suggestion. What is the best hitch bike rack to fit up to 2 mountain bikes (29ers with up to 2.6in tire) on a Taco? I’ve seen Thule, Kuat, and some others in general, but was wondering if there are any special recommendations based on tailgate range of motion, etc. price range is about $650 max.

 

My longest is Alabama to Indiana at about a 10 hour behind the wheel with one maybe two pit stops. It's crazy how draining driving can be.

Maybe Birmingham to Miami was longer, idr. That drive was after work one day and was terrible however I like no traffic and driving at night can't be beat for that.

 

1up.

 

1Up or Velocirax

 

Those shuttle racks are REALLY nice for 4+ bikes, esp if you're shuttling all the time, but for casual use, its a nightmare. I ended up ditching my alta rack to a buddy cuz it took up a 1/4 of my garage any time I didn't use it.

 

did 11-12 hours from bryce canyon utah to colorado springs with a pit stop in denver for some cross tires from a guy on here. left utah around 7 (my aunts were impressed with how fast my transition was from waking up to driving away. 5ish minutes since i packed everything up the night before and just needed to fold the rtt up) and got to springs around 6. not that bad.

1up

 

My first race of the season is today.

 

Something I didn't think about, you basically need a dedicated MTB vehicle for one, or a lot of kids that ride to justify it lol.

 

My biggest beef was it added 3+ ft to my vehicle at minimum always. The 1up you can fold in tight and it only adds a foot

 

Opening a can of worms with that question.

Long of the short, 1up.

You MAY need something like this.

$11 MaxxHaul 50023 Hitch Tightener Anti Rattle Stabilizer for 1.25" to 2" Hitches Reduce Movement On Hitch Mount Cargo Carrier Bike Rack

https://www.amazon.com/MaxxHaul-500...gid=pla-693753947949&ref=&adgrpid=68750937003

 

Most MTBers will vouch for the 1Up but my Rockymounts Monorail has been fantastic the last three years.